DETROIT Warm weather across the country is driving people to the comfort of indoor air conditioning -- but some were wondering if it was a good idea amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. A detailed investigation concluded that the virus was most likely spread to distant tables by the flow of air from the air conditioner. One important concern is that air conditioning systems could either blow the aerosol more quickly from an infected person to nearby people or by recirculating the air, could spread virus even farther. High efficiency HEPA filtration systems would trap infectious particles in the air stream, specific wavelengths of ultraviolet lights embedded in the duct work or near air registers could kill virus, and finally existing systems could be redesigned to bring in fresh uncirculated outdoor air to dilute any infectious particles in the air. Whether its summer or winter -- all businesses and schools should begin to consider how they can efficiently improve indoor air quality.

DETROIT Efforts to find a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine are about to take another major step forward, though declining cases could actually hamper those efforts. In order to know if a vaccine is actually protecting the people who have been vaccinated, those people need to be exposed to the virus. Researchers cant deliberately expose participants to the coronavirus in clinical trials, so the virus needs to be circulating in the community. Starting this month, Brazil will host the next round of testing on the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. Fauci said he is concerned about the durability of that immune response, meaning how long it will last.

Research into COVID-19 is evolving by the day, and Local 4′s Dr. Frank McGeorge is constantly reviewing new studies that shape our understanding of the virus. France has since found evidence of the virus spreading even earlier. Back then, nobody had any test for the coronavirus and they didn’t believe it had spread beyond China. The paper also identified nearly 200 recurrent mutations that the researchers believe are helping the virus evolve and adapt to infecting humans. The conclusions are food for thought, but they’re based on mathematical assumptions, so it would be premature to overreact now.